


Grateful

by CrackingLamb



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Post-Canon, Thanksgiving Dinner, what a weird combination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 11:24:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12816468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrackingLamb/pseuds/CrackingLamb
Summary: It's Thanksgiving in Goodneighbor and everyone's invited to the table.





	Grateful

**Author's Note:**

> So I know it's a day late, but hey, yesterday was a busy one in our house.

“I couldn’t get a turkey, of course,” Daisy said as Nora swung by on a sunny autumn day, “but I did manage to get that caravan to bring me a whole side of radstag.”

“Oh, that’ll be perfect,” Nora replied, sharing a look of glee with the old ghoul. “And Hancock doesn’t know?  Everyone else is on board?”

“I’m good at keeping secrets, and yes, everyone else is ready too,” Daisy replied with a wink.

“All right. I was able to gather up some really good tatoes from the Abernathy’s, and there were some perfect gourds from my own garden. Now I just need to figure out how to make a mutfruit pie.”

“Corn?”

“Got it. I even managed to get corn meal from last year’s stock. It was worth every aching muscle grinding it up, but I can now make corn bread.”

“I never questioned why you brought those chickens back from Far Harbor,” Daisy said knowingly. “I know John thought you were crazy…”

“Yeah, I know. Having ready access to eggs again makes up for every look he gives me over them.” Nora giggled. As if conjured by her laughter, two of the resident chickens of Goodneighbor flapped into view, landing on the low wall of the courtyard before squawking off again as Shaun chased them, red faced and cheerful.

“Quiet now, here he comes,” Daisy warned, immediately clearing her face of her conspiratorial look and wiping down her spotless counter top. Nora slouched at the end, looking like she was just watching her son’s antics.

“What are you two up to?” Hancock asked, his tricorn shadowing his eyes from the slanting sunlight. His breath puffed in the cold November air but he was dressed in his frockcoat like it was June. Nora always envied ghouls their warmth. She was bundled in a padded coat with a scarf she’d painstakingly knitted herself under Holly’s tutelage and she was still chilly. She had no idea how Shaun was able to run around in just a jacket. Synths must not feel the cold the same.

“Nothing,” the two women replied in unison before breaking into laughter at the obviousness of their ploy.

Hancock shook his head at them both. “You’re up to _something_.”

“Probably, you think you can get it outta me?” Daisy retorted.

“Huh, not on my best day.” He snagged Nora from behind and pulled her close. “This one, though. She can’t keep a secret to save her life.”

“Ack! That’s not true,” she protested. “How long was it before you knew I was a Railroad agent?”

“All right, I’ll give ya that.” He snuggled his face into the crook of her neck and nibbled a path up under her ear.

“Hey, take it inside,” Daisy pointed a gnarled finger at him. “I’ll keep an eye on the boy,” she added, as if she hadn’t a doubt that Hancock could convince Nora to sneak off for some privacy while they could.

Once inside the State House, Nora began unbundling herself from all her cold weather gear while Hancock laughed. “Easy for you, John, you’re always warm. I’m freezing.”

“How ‘bout a hot bath and some personal touches?” he purred, earning himself one of her sunny smiles.

“God, you’re perfect.”

“Hardly. I just know what buttons to push.” He headed up the spiral stairs ahead of her, leaving her shaking her head at his retreating figure in amusement. She reached the well laid out bathroom in time to see him flip open the new third tap he’d built over the summer with Fahr. Hot _purified_ water. She smiled, leaning against the doorway as he added a handful of dried hubflowers to the steaming water.

Now that the State House was their official residence during the seasons when she wasn’t needed for her General duties, the Triggermen had moved to the outer doors and no longer patrolled every floor. The new residence wing had been finished that spring and there were no more drifters wandering up to their private home anymore either. They were totally alone.

 _So many changes_ , Nora thought to herself. _Funny what a year of peace brings_.

They divided their time between here, Sanctuary Hills and the Castle. It was a lot of travel, but she wasn’t going to ask him to give up being Mayor of Goodneighbor and he wasn’t going to ask her to give up being General of the Minutemen.

 _Home is where you hang your hat_.

She watched him hang his on a hook before slipped off the frockcoat to hang next to it. “You ain’t naked yet, Sunshine,” he threw over his shoulder as the tub filled.

“Impatient, are we?”

“For you, always.”

“All right, don’t get your panties in a twist.” She pulled off her boots and jeans, dropped her flannel and tee on top of them.

“I’ll twist your panties,” he retorted with his back turned to her. She grinned, stepping out of them before he could make good on his threat. He gauged the tub to be full enough and turned off the taps. The room smelled pleasantly of hubflowers and she hummed in the back of her throat. His eyes widened appreciatively when he turned to see her nude and she stepped into his arms. “Why do you even own clothes, Sunshine?”

“Because I get cold,” she returned, tipping her head back for his kiss. He ran his hands down her sides, his touch so warm she got goosebumps. She tugged the shirt from his waistband and snuck her cold fingers under it, making him yelp. “What about you?”

“No one but you wants to see me naked, my love.”

“No one else is here, so get on it.” She let him go and sank into the hot water, hissing with pleasure as the heat seeped into her bones. After a moment she felt his hand on her shoulder, pushing her forward.

“Scoot,” he said, getting into the tub behind her. With a little awkward maneuvering, they managed to settle together with her sort of in his lap, her legs twined with his. She leaned against his chest and snickered at the water sloshing over the sides of the tub. He joined her. “We need a bigger tub.”

“You filled it up too much.”

“I’ll fill you up,” he promised in her ear. She could feel him growing hard under her and she squirmed until his length was trapped between her thighs. He cupped water in his hands and poured it over her, chuckling as it made her skin prickle. “You tease,” he murmured as she tightened her grip on him with her legs.

“Teasing only applies if you don’t follow through.”

Hancock ran a hand down her body, coming to rest between her clamped legs, his fingers worming their way to her core. He hummed a sound that was like an agreement to her statement, stroking what he could reach until she gave in and parted her thighs. He brought her to a heightened peak with his clever fingers, peppering the back of her neck with kisses and nips, making her hiss and sigh. He shifted in the tub until he could line himself up with her body and pushed up, sheathed completely in her heat.

“This is going to end poorly,” she panted out.

“Not at all, Sunshine.” He thrust up slowly, loving the feeling of her relaxing around him as he continued to slide his finger across her clit. “Think how easy it will be to clean up afterwards.”

“Yes,” she gasped. “In all the puddles all over the floor.”

“Are you complaining?” he asked archly, pulling her into him with his free hand on her stomach. He could still feel the scars from so long ago when she’d been shot, he could still remember his fear of that day watching her bleed. He never failed to be grateful that he had been able to save her then. His life had changed utterly in that moment, but he’d never regretted it.

“No…” she answered him. “I’m not…oh…”

He pivoted his hips, filling her in truth, his body against hers, his legs keeping her in place as he pumped into her with greater urgency. “I love you, Nora Howard,” he ground out as his climax began. She clamped down on him with a wordless cry, his ceaseless stroking bringing her to another orgasm.

“I love you too…” she sighed as she came down, relaxed and boneless against his chest.

***

Somewhere Daisy had found tables, probably with help from the crew at the Rexford. They were lined up along the open street between the State House and the Memory Den, with barrel fires every few feet to keep the space warm. Daisy had roasted the radstag overnight until it was tender and smoky, more than likely using every cook station she could find. Nora had made her mutfruit pies and corn bread and roasted tatoes and squash while Hancock had made a quick trip to convince Edward to come to Goodneighbor to join them. Nora had given him the pretext that she needed to talk with the former Cabot bodyguard and he hadn’t questioned it, to her amused delight.

Somehow Irma and Dr. Amari had made steamed grain that was almost like rice, and Clair brought out a bowl of silt beans dressed with pickled fern fiddleheads, carrots and tiny wild onions. Kent had made tarberry relish. As the sun sank behind the buildings bringing on a false twilight and the cold air was held at bay by the fires, the denizens of Goodnieghbor gathered together to eat together. Faces dear and familiar surrounded Nora and Hancock. Shaun was enthralled by the huge spread of food and the feeling of camaraderie and welcome he’d gotten from the moment he and his mother had arrived. Daisy sat next to him, telling him all about the old Thanksgiving traditions she remembered from before the war.

Triggermen laid aside their shotguns and submachine guns and sat at the benches alongside drifters and the lost and forgotten. Magnolia sat across from Nora and Hancock, while Charlie hovered at a spot purposely left clear for him. He couldn’t eat, but he could still join the gathering. Edward sat on the other side of Daisy, occasionally interjecting stories about the Cabots’ gatherings in the past to add to hers. Wine flowed, the mountain of food was eaten and a feeling of contentment filled Nora as she gazed around the table.

“What do you think of our surprise?” she asked Hancock as he refilled his plate for the third time.

“I like it, Sunshine. And you did this every year?”

“Yup. Thanksgiving was a time to be grateful for what you have, to remember those no longer with you and to renew ties with your family.” She didn’t mention the stress and acrimony that often existed hand in hand with a holiday based around family. She didn’t mention how much the meaning of this day had changed since the beginning of the nation she had once been a part of. This was a new world, and she could make this a new tradition in any way she wanted.

“What are you grateful for, Nora?” Hancock asked, sensing that she was perhaps keeping some things to herself. She smiled and leaned against him.

“I’m grateful for you, of course. I love you, John.” The entire table cheered as they kissed, and she looked a little sheepish for a second before she leaned into him again. If anything the cheers got louder. “Happy Thanksgiving, love.”

“Happy Thanksgiving.”

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write something for Thanksgiving and I wanted to write some Nora/Hancock smut. Two birds with one stone? Sure, we'll go with that.


End file.
